Alexandra Jackson, a self-funded PhD student in the Faculty of Medicine, has been selected as one of two winners of the Jack Wills Young Brits Award in the category of ‘innovation’.
The competition judged hundreds of entrants across the categories of ‘innovation’, ‘creativity’, ‘endurance’ and ‘enterprise’, based on their stories and ambitions.
Alexandra, who is studying for a PhD in Molecular Microbiology, is currently working to find a vaccine against foot rot in sheep in order to prevent the needless culling of animals.
Alexandra entered the competition, following the success of last year’s winner, fellow Southampton PhD student Joshua Welsh, in order to fund, support and publicize her research.
Speaking of her success in the competition, Alexandra commented,
“The competition began with me having to produce a video explaining my project and what I wanted to achieve. Jack Wills then put the successful applicants’ profiles online and for a month people could vote.
“When the voting was completed, the top 10 applicants were invited to London where we had to pitch our ideas to the judges. After the interviews, 2 successful applicants were selected from each category.
“Upon being successful we were each presented with £5000, and £500 of Jack Wills vouchers – which were gratefully received!”
You can find out more about Alexandra’s research, and her success, on the Jack Wills blog.